We're big fans of Jacqui Lee's work here at Hello!Lucky, as you may have noticed from the many collaborations we've done with her in the past. Today we're excited to talk to her about her latest release with us, birth announcements and kids stationery. We thought Jacqui's beautiful watercolor paintings and sweet designs would be perfect for such an important life announcement and we are thrilled with how they turned out. We talked to Jacqui about her latest release with us and her process.

These new designs are adorable! What was your process for making them and how did you decide on which animals to pair with each letter?

Thank you! I had a lot of fun making them. Animals are always a favourite subject of mine to work on, so this was a dream project for me. In the beginning there was a lot of brainstorming to match up animals with each letter, and sometimes it was super tough to choose just one. For the letter A, an aardvark lost out because I felt I could create a more visually interesting image with an alligator. Many of the final decisions were made based on which animal and letter combinations had the most character.

Do you have a personal favorite?

It's tough for me to pick favourites with this series, but I admit I have a soft spot for the letter L. I remember the lion was giving me a bit of trouble and I ended up doing a lot of revisions on him. I really like the way he turned out in the end.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

For this project, I had a clear idea that all of the animals and letters in the alphabet had to be simple. I ended up taking a lot of inspiration from one of my favourite illustrators, Charley Harper. He was a master of creating distinctive animals using mainly shape and colour.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

There is so much great work out there that I have many, many favourites. I feel like there are too many to list, but I will say that I have always admired Louise Fili's work and her distinctive design aesthetic. As for illustrators, again, there are so many! Some of my favourites will always be mid-century illustrators such as Alice and Martin Provensen, Art Seiden, and Roger Duvoisin.

What are you currently working on?

I'm currently working on a children's book! It's actually the third in a series that I started on back in 2011 with Simply Read Books - the first is titled Murilla Gorilla: Jungle Detective. It has been an amazing experience so far. Jennifer Lloyd (the author) and I have been getting some fantastic reviews, and I feel really lucky to be paired up with such a great writer and publisher. Right now I'm still in the sketching and planning stage, which is probably my favourite part.

Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us Jacqui, and thanks again for another awesome collaboration. We can't wait to work with you again!

You can see all of Jacqui's designs for Hello!Lucky here. View more of Jacqui's work on her website, follow along with her on twitter & tumblr.

There’s a lot of speculation around what the Duchess of Cambridge will plan for her pregnancy, birth and beyond. When it came to planning my own baby shower for my daughter Sienna last year, I decided to splash out and get cake and cookie expert Peggy Porschen to create some cookies and a cake in my chosen theme, which was owls. The results were adorable as you can see from these snapshots. I furthered the colour theme with pink balloons and was lucky to receive the cutest gifts including three Jellycat soft toy owls!

If you’re looking for ideas for your baby shower, take a look at what Hello!Lucky have on offer: super cute printable invitations and free (yes free) DIY template and instructions for creating your own pom-poms made out of cupcake liners! Your house or venue is sure to look cute with these hanging up for any type of celebration.

Coming back to Kate and an imaginary baby shower for her, if I was sister Pippa, I would have a tea party in the garden at Kensington palace, I’d fill it with pretty vintage tea sets from Idyllic Days and funky flowers by Wild at Heart. Catherine’s friends would eat strawberries and cream flavoured mini red velvet cupcakes from The Hummingbird bakery and walk away with goodie bags filled with personalized cookies from Biscuiteers and smellies from the Cowshed.

Also, once the baby arrives be sure to check out Hello!Lucky’s birth announcements, they’re so sweet. Scott’s giraffe design was from their main collection and Sienna’s owl was a special custom design that Eunice Moyle was kind enough to create for us.

We're all still giddy about the birth of Sabrina's third baby, William. She had favorite photographer Sarah Wert of Modern Kids Photography capture the exciting first moments as a family of five and they turned out just beautifully. James and Alex waited so patiently for the arrival of their baby brother, so this photo of them is just perfect. We love how Sabrina decorated the nursery with colorful wall decals from Gosh and Golly, too.

Sabrina was sure to spend some quality time with the twins before the baby was born. Reading some of their favorite books is a great way to relax together, and offered some photo-worthy moments for Sarah. They also got a little playful by blowing up balloons for the big arrival.

William is too precious! We can definitely see the resemblance to his brothers.

We are so happy for Sabrina and her family. Thanks to Modern Kids for the beautiful photographs!

Hooray! Our Inchworm birth announcement is featured in the latest issue of Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine! With so many adorable announcements readily available, we're honored they chose our playful new card. The design was so popular we decided to transform it into a folded thank you note! It comes in single cards or packs of six so if you have a bunch of thank-you's to write, we've got you covered.

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Hello!Lucky

Letterpress Cards & Stationery

At Hello!Lucky we specialize in Letterpress greeting cards, as well offer DIY step by steps & free printables. Led by sisters Eunice and Sabrina Moyle, our small team of expert designers and artisan letterpress printers specialize in creating neon & foil, holiday cards, birthday cards, & thank you cards, that are full of creativity and whimsy. We've been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Design Sponge, Style Me Pretty, Real Simple, and many other leading publications. Please feel feel to contact us via chat, phone or e-mail - we'd be happy to assist you!